Hello everyone! I’m happy to join your team and mission of reading through the Bible. I’ve started catching up with this blog and it’s really great! I’d love writing here, sharing my thoughts with you…
In yesterday’s reading and blog we saw that the reign of king Josiah was great - under his leadership there was revival throughout Judah. The temple was restored and the book of the Law of the Lord was found and read to all the people in Judah and Jerusalem (how cool was that!) People followed the Lord again.
Today however we read that Jeremiah's troubles are coming back. Josiah's son who succeeded him 'did evil in the eyes of the Lord'. New sin is piling up on top of previous unpunished sin in Judah. God sends a warning message to the people through Jeremiah: if they don't listen to His words and turn away from evil, this city will be in big trouble! But, if they turn to Him instead, he will relent:
Jer 26:1-6 "Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done"
What a great example of God's mercy and grace. The people had already done the evil for which deserved, tough consequences were upon them. But in His love, God is giving them another chance through a warning.
One thing hit me in this passage. What was Jeremiah accused of? Not of conveying God's promise of forgiveness, but of prophesying against the city! Does the city seem to be here an image of people’s pride and treasure; their self-built worth, the house of their sinful lives (when it was supposed to be God's city?) Thankfully, there were some people present who knew better; who did hear God's message through Jeremiah and who knew history: a prophet had given a warning like this one before and was not killed for it but was listened to and God had indeed relented (Jer 26:16-19.) After this argument Jeremiah was set free.
Here are some things to reflect on based on this story:
- When God says 'Don't' to us, do we defend the 'cities' of our lives (the things we don't want to hand over to Him) instead of gratefully hearing his warning message for our safety and ultimate happiness, and following Him?
- Do we often see Him as strict, limiting, or do we always see him as merciful and loving? Our God, who in His love, relented and forgave all sin through the death of Jesus.
As with people back then, He calls us now to turn to Him and follow Him. Sometimes we might forget how exactly to do this in everyday life. I know I do. Well, for one, we saw that it took Judah a little bit of cleaning up their house (God's temple and ultimately their lives) and finding an old, long-lost, dusty book - God's Word. It took reading it and living it out.
I'm excited to join you on this journey of reading and studying His Word! Have a great start of the week!
